Poverty in Irrigated and Rainfed Ecosystems: Village Studies in Tamil Nadu

By : Susanto Kumar Beero

Page No: 141-148

Abstract
This paper analyses the poverty issue under two different ecosystems, irrigated and rainfed, in the villages of drought prone Pudukkotai district in Tamil Nadu. The data, generated through field survey, were analysed by using both descriptive and regression analysis. The study indicated that employment, income and consumption pattern were higher in irrigated ecosystem than in rainfed areas. Further, the level of rural poverty was higher as expected in rainfed ecosystem than in the irrigated areas. In addition, among the variables included for the regression analysis, irrigation determined predominantly the rural poverty, suggesting that irrigation was the major factor in determining poverty.

Authors :
Susanto Kumar Beero : Research Fellow, Department of Economics and Rural Development, Alagappa University, Karaikudi, Tamil Nadu